sporadic Nintendo griping

Is Wii “Next-Gen”? (Part 1)

First off, what does the Wii have that GameCube didn’t? (past tense, mourn of you must.)

It has a intuitive and different controller, but not a major graphics upgrade.

According to most console makers “Next-Gen” means upgraded graphic (doubled in most cases), andimproved controller, and in recent years more functionary as an everyday household item.

Whiny fanboys will say “But Friz, the Wiimote is revolutionary!!! They made something completely original and different, and that’s what makes it ‘next-gen’!”

First off…they (you know…them) have made similar little “plug into your TV” games for years that used motion sensors. A Star Wars Light Saber game and fishing game come to mind right off the bat. Not that they have the quality and compatibility of the “Wiimote”, but the idea is not original or new by any means.

It seems like Nintendo’s “everyone games” are going to be like those cheesy ones you can but in the toy isle at Wal-Mart (I use cheesy loosely, I enjoy some cheese), and their other games that only gamers will play (Metroid, Zelda, Mario) won’t feel next gen, they will feel like a Game Cube game modified for the remote (especially Zelda).This whole discussion is relative to the DS as a handheld. It is not a next generation Game Boy, it is something new. If it was a Next-Gen Game Boy it would have needed the graphic capabilities to contend with Sony’s PSP. So instead of a new Game Boy we got slightly better graphics and a weird touch control scheme (and it worked). Maybe Nintendo will make it’s next Game Boy, or maybe it’s life cycle is done and the DS is the new thing. This concept is what has changed the meaning for Nintendo’s next-gen. It is really just New-Gen and we lose the evolution of the now dead consoles.

The problem is when they make games that really have no need to be on the New-Gen because we still want our Game Boy games (New Mario Brothers) and we still want our GameCube games (Super Paper Mario). This goes into forcing you to buy games for a console when they really add nothing to the game by being on it (other than “you want it, better get a Wii/DS”).

The DS and Wii are really Cousin consoles to the previous ones, something from left field. No evolution, no history, just new and diffrent.

– I am Colonel Chuck Frisby, and the truth may piss you off

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This quote at the end really gets me, you managed to contradict yourself about 5 times in 2 sentences.
“The DS and Wii are really Cousin consoles to the previous ones, something from left field. No evolution, no history, just new and diffrent.”
All in all i would say your argument is pathetic.

Define next gen. Father to son, son to grand son, great son to great grand son and so on. So NES would be the father. all the way down to Game Cube. The same for Game Boy to game boy advance. That was the basis of the really bad metaphore I was laying down for yah.

The Wii isn’t really part of that evolution. While it IS part of Nitneno bloodline it’s not a part of the evolution…therefore new and diffrent.

But hey, thanks for the brutal truth. Thats what this site is all about.

the other thing that’s funny is your claim that the wii “won’t feel next gen”. i guess the playstation 3 and xbox360 feel more next-gen, even though they have basically the same exact controller as the previous generation of systems, right? graphics must be the only thing that defines next-gen in your world. have you ever thought that gameplay can’t be drastically changed or improved unless control systems are improved. how much more innovative can game designers be with controls that are bascially ancient in technological time? i guess we can all play the same exact games with better graphics and pretend that somehow that is what defines next-gen. or maybe we can have an all new interactive experience which is quite honestly taking us one step closer to virtual reality…

First off, I am happy with the direction Nintendo went. Now that we have that covered…

What is the WORLDS definition of Next-Gen as we know it.

When kid’s got their SNES they said “Look how much better the graphics are and now there are 4 new buttons”.
N64 “Wow, it looks soooo real. Man this analog stick is awesome. I can save games on a memory card and it has 4 controller slots built in too”
GNC “Wow, these games look so awesome, and the controller is has a much better layout!!!. They have a modem you can buy to play against friends online!!!”

I for one and glad Nintendo is doing something completely different. BUT since it is completely different, not a PS2+1, that is is not Next-Gen. Nintendo has started a new generation of consoles.

So did Wii upgrade the Graphics? Barley. Did they upgrade their controller? No theymade one completely different than has been seen with no connection to the GNC controller or layout. It is not a member in the generation of Nintendo consoles from NES to GNC. It is completely different than anything Nintendo has done before, and completely different than anyone else has done. So how is that Next Gen if there are no previous generations????

Damn

“graphics must be the only thing that defines next-gen in your world”

Not in my world, in the current gamers world. From PS1 to PS2 Sony added DVD and Graphics. That’s it. Are you going to claim PS2 was not defined as next gen? All they did was take what they had and upgraded it, just like what happened with the NES to SNES.

Next-gen is not defined by the console manufacturers. It is defined by what the customer wants out of a console.
Its not just graphics, its improved AI (more intelligent, more of them) and most importantly it is changing the way you play games from the previous generation.

Microsoft and Sony change the way people play games by having high definition graphics. Improved detail enhances the gameplay – sniping levels in Call of Duty 2 for example which gives you a clearer picture of your target at a very long distance.

Nintendo will change the way people play games by having the remote. Enhancing the gaming experience by physical movement and not just a twiddle of the thumbs.

Both these aspects are next gen to me. They are what I want from gaming. I want a company to challenge the way I play games. I want a company to offer me something new. I suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome in both wrists and the standard controllers often gives me pain. Its quite possible that the Wii remote will enable me to play games without aggravating my pain – or it could indeed make it worse.
But if it works, then to me that is the way forward, its next generation.

Anyone who believes next gen is only about graphics is going to be sorely disappointed and possibly left behind.

wii challenges our notions of what “next gen” means, adding something different to that. And this is good. Probably, the fact that Nintendo is making games that would fit on old console (and the fact that people likes them), probably means that gaming reached something. They are good cultural products, like a book or a music cd, and you can have fun with them even if they’re old, or if they contain old concepts. Proably, having a different sensibility for what is already been is really “next gen”.

Graphs are not everything… are good part, but not tudp; / the control of the Wii is a finding, exactly that already he has been used previously, applied dad way that the Nitendo says to be is espetacular.A mission of the Nitendo is to join, to congregate people so that they are had fun in a game in conjunto.E not to gain the Oscar of graphical especiais.Os effect could be better, could, but for the time being this does not matter.
=It was translated automatically.=

Actually, some commenters already almost hit on the biggest complain about this post: the definition of “Next-Gen”. We (the fans) have been using this term liberally to describe these consoles, but the term is NOT used by the industry (except for Sony, as in “the next generation doesn’t start until we say so!”; but Sony has been just blurting out some macho statements lately).

The term is a fan/blogger term, and the industry can hardly be blamed on defining a “next-gen” when these consoles are coming out throughout a span of one year!

Also, as far as graphics are concerned, we still should hold our opinion of the Wii until it comes out: the graphics will be enhanced, not at the level of a 360 or a PS3, but they will be considerably better than the GameCube’s…

you must understand that the wii is not a next gen. the wii is nintendos prototype for their next gen. yes a prototype, just like the ps3. i dont cair what you say the ps3 is sonys prototype in the fact it was shiped about 1 and ahalf years early. any way nintendo will have a nexy gen capable of all that next gen suff when they want. they have over 35 designes pants for next gen sysyems. 35!!!

Douchebag, graphics or controls have nothing to do with generation. Generation only has to do with time. We are in the 7th generation of consoles, if nintendo released a super ‘dooper’ nintendo with motion control and 32 bit graphics it would be 7th gen.

If they released a rock that you drew on as a video game console it would be a 7th gen video console.

This guy’s right. But, it’s a technical contradiction. That is the definition of a ‘console generation,’ yea. But generation changes are changes of the guard, and the industry has directly shaped everyone’s expectations of what a follow-up generation should constitute. Nintendo broke the trend a little, that’s all. The expectations remain the same. No Nintendo freak can honestly say they’d be ecstatic when Nintendo launches their next home console effort: the Game Boy Evolved (codenamed the “Wyy”), a 1D, singleplayer, mind-controlled Pong emulator in full monochrome definition.

Gamers expect performance increases because the game-makers have told them to expect it. Try reversing a 20+ year habit in one go. It’s hard. Wii is currently part of this generation of consoles, but it is far short of expectations, and even further from satisfactory.

… are you retarded you cant honestly say the ds isnt a major step up from the previous gameboy advances, next gen doesnt mean just graphics (which by the way the ds completely outdoes the previous gameboys), the fact that the ds has built in wifi and touch screen is reason enough to call it next gen and though its graphics dont compare to the psp looking at sales its clear that ds is the winner between the two

“According to most console makers “Next-Gen” means upgraded graphic (doubled in most cases), and improved controller, and in recent years more functionary as an everyday household item.”

the wii is about 1.5-2 times more powerful than the gc. so doesn’t that make it “next-gen”?
your argument about how the wii is completely different from what nintendo has done in the past disqualifies it from being the next gen nintendo console doesn’t make sense. think about what you’re saying. take a look at the 3DO, Jaguar, Sega CD, Sega Saturn, PSX. would you not consider those systems the next generation after the cartridge based systems since it’s completely different from what the media was used at the time? So the Gamecube shouldn’t be the next-gen Nintendo system after the N64 since it was different from the N64 media wise?
next-gen console isn’t based on graphics or controllers. if you want to talk about next-generation graphics then you can say the wii isn’t up to par with next generation graphics. but you can’t say that the wii isn’t nintendo’s next gen system.